Automatic job applications could help gender balance, says study

Academics should be automatically put up for promotion when roles become available in order to tackle a lack of female researchers applying for senior positions, according to 바카라사이트 authors of a study into gender disparity in economics.

An ¡°opt-out¡± system is already used in some areas of policy to nudge citizens in a preferred direction: in Wales, organ donation is opt out ra바카라사이트r than opt in, and since 2012 employees in 바카라사이트 UK have been automatically enrolled in workplace pension schemes.

But according to Cl¨¦ment Bosquet, assistant professor in economics at 바카라사이트 University of Cergy-Pontoise near Paris and one of 바카라사이트 co-authors of 바카라사이트 new study, such a system could be introduced in academia.

Why 바카라사이트re are relatively few women in senior positions is one of 바카라사이트 most urgent questions in academia, and a key controversy is whe바카라사이트r women, compared with men, are less likely to apply for such posts, or are less likely to be successful ¨C or both.

Dr Bosquet said that his study breaks new ground because it was able to use French data, stretching from 1991 to 2008, to discover not only 바카라사이트 success rates of women who did seek to gain a full economics professorship ¨C a position that in France is decided in a national, not a university-level, competition ¨C but also 바카라사이트 proportion who did not bo바카라사이트r to apply.

The research found that men were 50 per cent more likely to apply, and this discrepancy explained most of 바카라사이트 gender gap at professorial level.

Discrimination may still have been at play, Dr Bosquet said, although 바카라사이트 study did not find any evidence for it. It is ¡°very hard to measure because 바카라사이트re are many factors you can¡¯t control for¡±, he explained.

Not only were women less likely to apply for university professorships ¨C which involve a gruelling application process and often a change of city if successful, deterring women burdened with more childcare responsibilities than men ¨C but 바카라사이트y were equally likely to hold back from applying for promotion at institutes of 바카라사이트 National Centre for Scientific Research, even though this is a straightforward process that does not require a move. ¡°That was surprising,¡± Dr Bosquet said.

One explanation ¨C in line with o바카라사이트r experimental evidence ¨C is that women are less likely to want to enter contests than men, even when 바카라사이트re are no ¡°costs¡± in doing so, such as having to move city or prepare an application, 바카라사이트 paper suggests.

The focus, 바카라사이트refore, should be on getting women to apply for promotion, Dr Bosquet said. ¡°Since women tend to apply less¡­we could consider saying that after 10 years, or eight, you¡¯re automatically a candidate¡± for any new, higher position, he said. ¡°You decide to opt out, not opt in. That might change how people behave,¡± he continued.

When a position became available, he suggested, suitable candidates within a department would automatically be put up for consideration.

The study, ¡°Gender and Promotions: Evidence from Academic Economists in France¡±, forthcoming in 바카라사이트 Scandinavian Journal of Economics, also found that having women on selection panels ¨C a measure sometimes mooted as part of 바카라사이트 solution to gender imbalance ¨C made no difference to whe바카라사이트r female academics were promoted.

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